India + Climbing holidays | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/india+climbing-holidays
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High camp: India's untrodden Himalayashttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/mar/24/neora-valley-camp-himalayas-india
In India's little-visited Neora Valley, our writer discovers a new village lodge and gobsmacking Himalayan views without another trekker in sight<p>At first I wasn't sure anything was happening; a second later I knew this would be a sight I'd never forget. Within 10 seconds the tiny almost-glow at the top of the mountain had grown to cover the whole face of Kanchenjunga, third-highest mountain in the world. And within two minutes all five white-capped peaks of the range, whose name means &quot;Five Treasure Houses of Snow&quot;, were bathed in rosy light.</p><p>It was 5.50am in the north of West Bengal, where India meets Bhutan, Nepal and China. I returned to the piled quilts and hot-water bottle of my bed, marvelling that the vista of India's highest mountain and the whole south-east wall of the Himalayas was just there, for me to feast my eyes on throughout our stay at Neora Valley Jungle Camp.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/mar/24/neora-valley-camp-himalayas-india">Continue reading...</a>IndiaClimbing holidaysWalking holidaysCampingGreen travelBirdwatchingAsiaTravelMon, 24 Mar 2014 06:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/mar/24/neora-valley-camp-himalayas-indiaLiz BoulterSillery Gaon village. Photograph: Liz BoulterLiz BoulterSillery Gaon village. Photograph: Liz BoulterLiz Boulter2014-03-24T06:00:02ZTrekking in Ladakh: join the girl guideshttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/nov/04/trek-himalayas-ladakh-india-female
We join a trek led by a pioneering woman who has broken local taboos to become the first female trekking guide in the remote region of Ladakh in the Indian Himalayas<br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/interactive/2011/nov/04/india-walkingholidays-beta-scroll-layout" title="">• Read this article on an alternative layout </a><p>Thinlas Chorol looked at the sacred fresco in front of us and pursed her lips, deep in thought. We were in the tiny village of Skiu in Ladakh's Markha valley, four days into what was becoming one of the best treks of my life. When we'd arrived Thinlas, our guide, was surprised to find the village <em>gompa</em> – a Tibetan Buddhist prayer hall – unlocked, with a&nbsp;monk in residence.</p><p>&quot;I've been here so many times, and it was never open before,&quot; she said, leading the way inside. The striking white building sits on a promontory with the reverential attention to landscape that is a hallmark of Tibetan architecture. My guidebook said it was founded in the 17th century, but at the back of the prayer hall, behind a more recent statue, Thinlas had found the fresco she was now studying.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/nov/04/trek-himalayas-ladakh-india-female">Continue reading...</a>IndiaWalking holidaysAsiaTravelClimbing holidaysWomenKashmirLadakhFri, 04 Nov 2011 23:18:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/nov/04/trek-himalayas-ladakh-india-femaleAlamyStatues in Skiu <em>gompa</em> in the Markha valley in Ladakh.
Photograph: AlamyTimothy Allen/AxiomA Buddhist monk at Thikse <em>gompa</em>, near Leh. Photograph: Timothy Allen/AxiomPaul Nevin/Getty ImagesThe Markha valley, Ladakh, India. Photograph: Paul Nevin/Getty ImagesEd DouglasThinlas, Tsering, Ed's daughter Rosa and Tsetan in Ladakh. Photograph: Ed DouglasEd DouglasThinlas, Tsering, Rosa and Tseten at the Kongmaru La pass. Photograph: Ed DouglasEd Douglas2011-11-04T23:18:00ZAdventure holidays: hot tips for 2010http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2009/nov/01/25-best-adventure-holidays-2010
We asked the experts to reveal the trips they are most excited about – from Papua New Guinea's jungles to Greenland's ice floes <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2009/nov/01/25-best-adventure-holidays-2010">Continue reading...</a>Adventure travelWalking holidaysTravelCycling holidaysTurkeyTimor-LesteIndiaGeorgiaPapua New GuineaLaosSri LankaWildlife holidaysClimbing holidaysHorse ridingKyrgyzstanBhutanGreenlandPeruFalkland IslandsRail travelAntarcticaEuropeScotlandSicilyFranceSafarisBoating holidaysUnited StatesSt PetersburgVeniceWalesEthiopiaMaliRwandaMalawiBotswanaMoroccoSun, 01 Nov 2009 00:07:27 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2009/nov/01/25-best-adventure-holidays-2010Robert Van Der Hilst/Getty ImagesDiscover the Djenne Mosque, the largest mud structure in the world, in Mali. Photograph: Robert Van Der Hilst/Getty ImagesRobert Van Der Hilst/Getty ImagesDiscover the Djenne Mosque, the largest mud structure in the world, in Mali. Photograph: Robert Van Der Hilst/Getty ImagesNicola Iseard2009-11-01T00:07:27ZLuxury comes to Ladakh's hippie trailhttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2008/oct/12/luxurytravel-delhi
Fifteen years after backpacking through the Himalayas, Tom Robbins realises a little luxury is not to be sneered at - especially when it's a community initiative<p>The woman beside me vomited in my lap but I was too far gone to care. It was 1am and we were approaching our 30th hour packed, knees to chins, inside an ancient bus as it coughed and spluttered up and down barren Himalayan mountainsides towards Leh, capital of Ladakh. My head was swimming from fever and altitude sickness, my mouth so caked in phlegm that swallowing was impossible, and white lights flashed agonisingly behind my eyes. </p><p>As we climbed towards the Lachlung La, a pass 250m higher than the summit of Mont Blanc, the groaning engine spluttered and died. Turning the ignition had no effect, so the driver tried a bump start, letting us roll backwards down the bumpy road towards the hairpin bend and the 500m drop below, then slamming the bus into reverse with a mighty jolt that made my head throb still harder. After a dozen tries, and a few false starts, he conceded defeat and ordered the passengers off. We were left by the side of the windswept road, in the dark, gasping in the thin air and shivering in the cold, with no option but to hitch the remaining 160km to Leh.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2008/oct/12/luxurytravel-delhi">Continue reading...</a>Luxury travelDelhiIndiaClimbing holidaysTravelKashmirLadakhSat, 11 Oct 2008 23:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2008/oct/12/luxurytravel-delhiTom Robbins/Tom RobbinsMonks blow conch shells from the roof of Thikse Gompa to greet the day and ward off evil. Photograph: Tom RobbinsTom Robbins/Tom RobbinsMonks blow conch shells from the roof of Thiksey Gompa to greet the city and ward off evil. Photograph: Tom RobbinsTom Robbins2008-10-11T23:01:00ZAre we there yet, Dad?http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2007/feb/18/walkingholidays.familyholidays.climbingholidays
David Rose longed to return to the Himalayas, but would a week-long trek through the remote mountains of Ladakh be too much for his city-loving teenage daughters?<p>While the rain came down harder, we stood and watched as the Jeep drove off, back down the valley. Ahead, our path began by a foaming river, hemmed in by enormous canyon walls, the start of a route back to civilisation that would take us over passes up to 5,000m and last about a week. I shouldered my rucksack and turned to the girls. 'Well, children. Shall we begin?'</p><p>More than 20 years ago, I went trekking in the Himalayas, in Nepal and Bhutan. Inspired by the mountains and their Tibetan Buddhist culture, I had longed to go back. Finally, last summer, when my daughters Nushy and Tushy turned 15 and 12, I reckoned they were old enough for us to attempt a trek together.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2007/feb/18/walkingholidays.familyholidays.climbingholidays">Continue reading...</a>Walking holidaysFamily holidaysClimbing holidaysIndiaNepalTravelAdventure travelKashmirLadakhSun, 18 Feb 2007 12:17:26 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2007/feb/18/walkingholidays.familyholidays.climbingholidaysNestled high in the Himalayas with its crystal-clear air and brilliant azure skies, clouds are mirrored in the rice fields near Leh, the capital of Ladakh. Photograph: Ami Vitale/Getty ImagesDavid Rose2007-02-18T12:17:26ZThe high lifehttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2003/apr/26/india.climbingholidays.guardiansaturdaytravelsection
Short of breath and with aching muscles, Andrew Spooner discovers the ups and downs of trekking in Himalayas<p>Ladakh, in the far north-eastern corner of India, is a sanctuary of Buddhist contemplation. Cradled by the two highest mountain ranges on earth, the Himalayas and the Karakoram, Tibetan culture has arguably been better preserved here than in Tibet itself. The Dalai Lama even has a summer palace here. </p><p>But it is the empty plains rimmed by staggering mountains that draw in visitors with the prospect of trekking. The Ladakhi capital, Leh, rests on a green plateau 3,500 metres up - two of the roads that lead here are the highest in the world - and it is from here that walkers set out into the wilderness. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2003/apr/26/india.climbingholidays.guardiansaturdaytravelsection">Continue reading...</a>IndiaTravelClimbing holidaysSat, 26 Apr 2003 16:53:40 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2003/apr/26/india.climbingholidays.guardiansaturdaytravelsectionGuardian Staff2003-04-26T16:53:40Z